Chris Robinson Tried to Form Band With Stone Temple Pilots Brothers

Since the Black Crowes' most recent breakup, singer Chris Robinson has focused on fronting his band the Chris Robinson Brotherhood — but things could have turned out very differently if a brief attempt to start a new group with Stone Temple Pilots co-founders Dean and Robert DeLeo had proven more creatively productive.

Robinson looked back on that brief chapter during a recent interview with AL.com, noting that he met up with the DeLeos to try and feel out a potential collaboration at a moment when he was still figuring out what he really wanted to do after the Crowes. Although it may not have worked out the way any of them were hoping when they went in, Robinson credited the experience with giving him a clearer focus on the next phase of his career.

"You know, we sat down and tried to write some songs and stuff and had a nice time, but nothing really came of it. I was already pretty much on my way to, I kind of wanted to get away from the riff-rock oriented, uh, scarves and necklaces and whatever rock 'n' roll — they're great at it. And they have written some great songs," said Robinson. "I was like 'I don't want to scream and yell over loud guitars. I want to tell these stories and I want my singing and my poetry to have a different relevance to the music.'"

Robinson has done more than his share of singing over loud guitars — including the Crowes' collaboration with Jimmy Page, which he also looked back on fondly in the interview. Saying he knew up front that he'd never be able to sing Led Zeppelin songs the same way Robert Plant had, he described the end result as "pretty rad" — an opinion shared to some degree by Plant himself.

"I got to open for Robert when I was 23 years old. I spent two tours, back-to-back opening for Aerosmith and Robert Plant as a little frontman, so ultimately Robert has my great respect and I had to find some way to sing those songs that people who love Led Zeppelin would still like them," said Robinson. "Robert told me that I did a good job. He gave me his blessing, so that's all that I needed."